China Inflation Spreading Past Food Adds Tightening Pressure

China’s inflation is spreading beyond food, signaling Premier Wen Jiabao’s strategy of quarter-point interest-rate increases every two months has yet to contain consumer prices.

Clothing costs climbed 1.4 percent in April from a year earlier, the biggest gain since 1997, a statistics bureau report showed yesterday. Non-food inflation held at 2.7 percent, the fastest pace in at least six years, while overall consumer prices rose 5.3 percent.